CHICAGO- The 2014 UIC women’s soccer schedule was released on Tuesday afternoon as announced by head coach Brian Rigby. The inaugural campaign features 10 home games and eight road contests. The Flames open with two exhibition matches, the first at Bowling Green State (Aug. 12) and the second at home against IPFW (Aug 16).

“Our 2014 schedule consists of four teams who participated in the NCAA tournament last year along with other teams who had great success,” coach Rigby said. “It is important to me that we play many games early and often so we can gain game experience right away.”

The Flames will kick off the regular season in Edwardsville, Ill., against SIUE on Friday August 22. UIC will then play their first regular season home game on August 24, against Iowa. The Flames are set to take on Northwestern on August 27, following the Hawkeye game, facing Big Ten opponents in back-to-back matches. The Flames will close out the first month of their inaugural season with a two-game homestand against Morehead State and IUPUI on August 29 and August 31, respectively.

September play will begin with a pair of road games starting at Northern Iowa on September 12, followed by a game against Western Michigan on September 14. Following the road trip, the team will return to Flames Field for games against St. Louis (Sept. 19) and Eastern Michigan (Sept. 21).

The first match of Horizon League play for the Flames will commence on September 24, at Milwaukee. On September 28, the squad takes a brief pause from conference action to host cross-town rival Loyola. UIC will then host its first Horizon League opponent, Detroit, on October 4. The Flames will close out the regular season at Flames Field for a match against Youngstown State on October 31.

“We are very excited to join the great teams that make up the Horizon League,” Rigby said. “We will have to prepare very well for the challenges that await us in each conference game, but we are very excited to get started and are looking forward to the matchups that await us this season.”

The Horizon League Tournament quarterfinals are set to begin on November 3 with semifinals slated for November 6 and the championship scheduled for November 8. The higher seed hosts in quarterfinals, while the regular season champion hosts semifinals and the championship.

The UIC women’s soccer program was officially announced in November of 2012 with the hiring of Rigby. The first roster was built off a list of 20 newcomers and five existing players and was released earlier this year. Assistant coaches Julie Colhoff and Jamie Forbes were added in February.